Brick & Mortar Shop

Okay so tomorrow I go to sign a lease for a brick and mortar shop. My plan is to have a craft consignment shop but to also offer crafting classes for all ages and all types of crafts. I plan to have quilting, spinning, knitting, crocheting, stamping, felting, stained glass and more for classes. Also hope to bring in younger people by having all inclusive birthday parties with them making crafts to take with them, include the cake, invites and balloons/decor in a one price package. I think the idea is a good one but I do worry about being in a small town. I will have to work hard to pull in people from neighboring towns and word of mouth will also hopefully help spread the word. I hope to post here in my blog the steps I will take. Before the rental space I have had to find insurance and inquire about a dba and tax numbers. I plan to use the consignment items as decor as for the space. It is on the main street in town and is visible to anyone that passes through town. I will say I got the space at a reduced rate for the first 6 months, after that I have the option of walking away or going on with a year lease. Im hoping with the holiday season coming and people wanting things to do in the winter months it will help people to choose to come check out my class offerings. Any ideas from blog readers or tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Craft Festival and Stamping cards

Went with 3 great friends to the http://villageofremsen.org/content/Generic/View/2 Remsen Barn Festival. It is a really nice outdoor show. The weather was perfect, sunny with a slight fall chill in the morning but warmed up very nicely way before noon. There were vendors up and down the main street in this little town. There were quilts, pottery, art work, spice mixes, food, fiber arts and beautiful alpaca and wool yarns. There were plenty of food venders and even a few yard sales thrown in the mix of people that lived right in the town. Lots of beautiful eye candy!!
If your in the neighborhood it is worth a look.

After that we went back to one of my friend's house to stamp. A fourth friend stopped in too. We have kind of gotten away from making cards on a regular basis and wanted to make an attempt to get back into it. We had lots of fun using the stamps we had bought but not yet used. Used some embossing plates and the sizzix machine. Hope we can do it again soon. I have posted some pictures of the cards I was able to finish.